He said that same-sex couples are better off together than "living alone comforted only by their respective cats".

The debate over the marriage equality bill in the House of Representatives is underway, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull can’t contain his positivity about marriage—saying it beats being single and surrounded by cats.

“I am very firmly of the view that families are the foundation of our society, and ours would be a stronger society if more people were married, and by that I mean formally, legally married, and fewer were divorced,” Turnbull said, according to the The Sydney Morning Herald.

“If consulted by friends at about marital dramas I always encouraged the singles to marriage, the married to stick together and the wronged to forgive.”

He added that same-sex couples are better off together than “living alone comforted only by their respective cats”.

Turnbull used his speech to brand marriage equality as a breakthrough achievement for his leadership.

“I am the first prime minister of Australia to be unequivocally and consistently in support of legislating same-sex marriage,” he said.

However, former Prime Minister and staunch marriage equality opponent Tony Abbott is also still attempting to take credit for starting the process.

“The plebiscite was an Abbott government decision—we opened the door to change,” he said.

Abbott acknowledged that he has never supported marriage equality, but said he will not stand in the way of Dean Smith’s bill.

“It’s no secret I haven’t been a supporter of same-sex marriage,” he said.

“I won’t be opposing this bill because I respect the will of the people as expressed in the postal survey.”

He added that he looks forward to attending the wedding of his sister Christine Forster to fiancée Virginia Edwards early next year.

About the AuthorJesse Jones

Jesse is Star Observer's senior journalist. His background is in public health and sex work, and his special interests include health, gender and travel. When he's not writing, Jesse is into movies, martial arts and margaritas. You can follow his tweets @JesseJonesAU.